Wednesday, November 02, 2005

One day Radha had a very possessive thought of Krishna. "My Krishna", she said to herself, as though one could possess Krishna as one could possess a calf, a jewel. Krishna, the Absolute Itself, immediately knew her thought. And when the absolute knows, the knowing itself, as it were, is the action of the act; things do not happen according to his wish, but his wish itself is his own creation of his wish, as the action is the creation of his own action.

So, Durvasa the great Sage was announced.

"He is on the other side of the river, Lord", spake the messengers, and "and he sends his deep respects".

Then Krishna went into the deep chambers and said to Radha, "Radha, Durvasa the great Sage is come, my dear. We must feed him".

"Oh, then I will cook the food myself" said Radha, and Krishna was very happy at this thought. So he went back to the Hall of Audience, and not long after, Radha came in with all the cooked food. "Yes, the meal is ready my Lord. And I will take it myself to Sage Durvasa".

"Wonderful, wonderful!" exclaimed Sri Krishna, pleased with the devotion of his wife to the Sages.

"I'll go and come," said Radha, and hardly had she gone to the palace door when she remembered the Jumna was in flood. No ferryman would go across. She came back to Krishna and begged, "My Lord, how can I take the food? the river is in flood".

"Tell the river," answered Krishna, "Krishna the brahmachari [The celibate, or who has taken the vow of celibacy] wishes that the way be made for you to pass through."

And Radha went light of heart, but suddenly bethought herself it was a lie. Who better than she to know whether Krishna be brahmachari or not? "Ah the noble lie, the noble lie," she said to herself, and when she came to the river, she said, "Krishna, the Lord, the brahmachari, wishes that way be made for me to pass through".

And of course the river rose high and stood still, but suddenly opened out a blue lane, small as a village footpath, through which Radha walked to the other side. And coming to the opposite shore, she thanked the river, and saluting the great Sage Durvasa, in many a manner of courtesies and words of welcome, spread the leaf and laid him the food.

Durvasa was mighty hungry and he ate the food as though the palm of his hand went down his gullet. "Ah, ah," he said and belched and made himself happy, with curds and rice and many meats, perfumed and spiced with saffron, and when there was nothing left in leaf or vessel, he rose, went to the river and washed his hands. Radha took the vessels to the waters, too to wash, threw the leaf into the Jumna and stood there to leave. Then it was she who remembered, the river was in flood. Sri Krishna had told her what to say while going and not what to utter while coming back.

Durvasa understood her question before she asked - for the sages have this power too -- and he said, "Tell the river, Durvasa the eternal upavasi [He who fasts] says to the river, 'Open and let Radha pass through to the other shore.'"

Radha obeyed but she was more sorrowful. "I have seen him eat till his palm enter his gullet, and he has belched and passed his hand over his belly with satisfaction. It is a lie, a big lie," she said, but she went to the river thoughtful, very thoughtful. "River," she said, "Durvasa who is ever in upavasa says open and let me pass."

And the river opened a lane just as wide as a village pathway, and the waves held themselves over the head, and would not move. She came to the other shore and returned to the palace in heavy distress. "Yes, nature is a lie, nature believes and obeys lies. Lord, what a world," She said to herself and going into the Hall of Sorrowing, shut herself and began to sob. "Lord, what a lie the world is, what a lie."

Sri Krishna knew the cause and cadence of this all, and gently entered the Hall of Sorrowing. "Beloved, why might you be in sorrow?" he said.

"My Lord," she answered, "the river believes you are a brahmachari, and after all who should deny it better than me, your wife? and then I go to Durvasa and he eats with his palm going down his gullet, and he says, "Tell the river, Durvasa who is ever in upavasa asks you to open and let Radha pass." And the river opens herself, makes a way large as a village pathway, and I pass over to this side. The world is a fib, a misnomer, a lie."

"The world, my dear, is not a lie, it is an illusion. Besides, tell me, is my body your husband, Radha?"

"No, my Lord."

"Is my mind your husband, Radha?"

"No, my Lord."

"Then what is it when you say to yourself, 'Krishna, my husband?'"

"Assuredly something beyond the body and beyond the mind -- the Principle."

"And tell me, my love, can you possess that, can you possess it?"

"No, my lord, how can I possess the Absolute? The I is the Absolute." And she fell at the feet and understood, and lived ever after in the light of the Truth.

Hare Krsna!!!!!!!!!very thought provoking story....but one doubt, I have read that Srimati Radharani is Sri Krsna's beloved consort/best friend/favourite, but they were not married, and that their love was the most beautiful but totally platonic, then how come She thought of Him as Her husband...plz clarify

Daily Inspiration Mailing List

If you are interested in getting short Vedantic messages as "daily inspiration", please let me know by leaving a comment on this blog, with your email address. (I will edit the comment removing the email address to save you from spam.) Here are the ones that I currently run.
Bhagavad Gita: The summum-bonum, the summary as well as encyclopedia of the entire Vedanta, recorded as a conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna, in 700 verses and 18 chapters. This selection is just a collection of 42 quotes from the book (see this post for all of them). A sample message is
2.16 naasato vidyate bhaavo naabhaavo vidyate sataH
Of the unreal there is no being; the real has no nonexistence. Ashtavakra Gita: A highly recommended Advaitic text, recorded as a conversation between the sage Ashtavakra and his disciple King Janaka. A sample message is:
The liberated person is not averse to the senses and nor is he attached to them. He enjoys himself continually with an unattached mind in both achievement and non-achievement. 17.17Adi Shankaracharya's prasna uttara ratna malika: A short work by Shri Adi Shankara, of 100+ verses, each containing a question and answer. The translation I follow is by Swami Prabhavananda. A sample message is:
60. What are the duties of a spiritual aspirant? To keep company with the holy, to renounce all thoughts of me and mine, to devote himself to God. Ramana Maharshi's verses on reality: This is a translation of a short work of forty verses by Ramana Maharshi. The translation I follow is by Shri Alan Jacob. A sample message is:
34. Disputing the nature of the Self without attempting Self-realization merely constitutes delusion.
Without trying to realize in the heart that reality which is the true nature of all, and without trying to abide in it, to engage in disputations as to whether the reality exists or not, or is real or not, denotes delusion born of ignorance.
sanskRita vyavahaara sahasrii: This is a mailing list for sending 6 random sentences selected from simple Sanskrit. The source I use is this (a PDF link). A sample message is:
bahu sundaraM asti kila etad.h ? It is very good, isn't it ?
dIpAvalI shubhAshayAH | Wish you a happy Deepavali.
eshhaH saN^ketaH kutra iti jAnAti vA ? | Could you possibly tell me where this address/place is ?
shvaH etad.h samyak.h paThitvA Agantavyam.h | Read this well when you come tomorrow.
adya tu virAmaH |Today is a holiday, anyway.
tasya ArogyaM kathaM asti ? How is his health ?
gItA anvaya sandhi vigraha : This is a purely Sanskrit mailing list, which send a random verse/verses from Bhagavad Gita, along with its anvaya and saMdhi vigraha. A sample message is:
yatra yogeshvaraH kR^iShNo yatra paartho dhanurdharaH .
tatra shriirvijayo bhuutirdhruvaa niitirmatirmama .. 18.78
yatra yogeshvaraH kR^iShNaH yatra paarthaH dhanurdharaH .
tatra shriiH vijayaH bhuutiH dhruvaa niitiH matiH mama .. 18.78
yatra yogeshvaraH kR^iShNaH yatra dhanurdharaH paarthaH\,
tatra shriiH\, vijayaH\, bhuutiH\, dhruvaa niitiH ##(##cha iti##)##
mama matiH ##(##asti##)## .
This has been made into a google groups http://groups.google.com/group/gita-anvaya-sandhi-vigrahaPostscript comment: Here are some links to subscribe yourself to the mailing lists:
http://groups.google.com/group/gita-nitya-sadhana-sutrahttp://groups.google.com/group/vishnu-sahasranama-mananahttp://groups.google.com/group/gita-anvaya-sandhi-vigrahahttp://groups.google.com/group/shankara-prashna-uttara-ratna-malika
The honor code for the mailing lists is the following: the mails would be read the day on which they were received!